Kawakami: Green wants to help Warriors return to NBA Finals

Share this:

Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) shoots and makes a 3-point basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, June 16, 2015. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

CLEVELAND — Draymond Green had nowhere particular to go; he wanted to stay right where he was for just a little bit longer. ¶ Was he walking around in a dream? Was this real? ¶ This was about 90 minutes after the Warriors clinched the championship at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday, and just after the Warriors’ gregarious power forward posed with the Larry O’Brien trophy. ¶ Everything seemed connected right then — the Warriors’ previous title in 1975, Green’s personal history, his camaraderie with his teammates, and the rapture of the entire Bay Area.

So Green accepted congratulations from everybody who passed by, carried piles of commemorative championship T-shirts, and loudly and laughingly wondered where in the world his family had wandered off to.

Yes, it was part champagne dream, part triumphant reality, and Green knew he only wanted more of it, with these teammates, on the Warriors, going for back-to-back titles.

I asked him specifically: Draymond, are you sure you’ll be part of this team next season?

“I’ll be here,” Green said firmly and distinctly. “I love this group of guys.”

Of course, Green’s pending restricted free agency is the largest personnel question mark facing the Warriors as they move on from this new threshold.

Can Warriors management keep this tight-knit and history-making team together as their salaries escalate?

Yes, it’s possible, and it starts with Green this summer.

The Warriors have the right to match any offer for Green and though management is barred by NBA rules from saying so, it’s hard to believe co-owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Myers would ever let Green go.

And now Green himself has said the same.

Green also said he wasn’t really thinking about free agency, because he just won a title, which is fair, and you never know what twists a big negotiation can take.

But when I asked Green if he thought this team was capable of winning several more titles, Green’s answer sounded like a promise.

You can never predict a dynasty or a repeat champion, but the Warriors certainly are set up to do something parallel to what the Giants have done — three titles in five years.

Or maybe even the Spurs, who have competed for and won titles over a 17-season stretch with Tim Duncan at the center of everything.

The literal accounting is this: Stephen Curry is the league MVP and he’s still only 27; Green and Klay Thompson are 25, and Harrison Barnes is only 23.

Shaun Livingston is 29, Andrew Bogut is 30, Andre Iguodala 31.

Meanwhile, Steve Kerr just won a title in his rookie season as a head coach, and the Warriors have an aggressive management staff that has reached out and acquired Iguodala, Bogut and Livingston in recent years, at no small expense.

While Thompson’s huge new deal (which starts at $15.5 million) and Green’s expected new deal (which could start at a similar place) will explode the payroll, the Warriors can still get under the luxury-tax threshold if they find a taker for David Lee’s $15.5 million salary next season.

The Warriors probably would have to use their upcoming first-round pick (30th overall) as incentive for a team to take Lee’s salary.

ESPN.com reported Wednesday that the Warriors have already told Lee that they want to give him a chance to get more playing time elsewhere.

The rest of the commitments go like this: Curry is signed at a bargain price of $25.5 million over the next two years (and will presumably command a potential $30 million starting salary when he hits free agency in 2017), and Iguodala, Bogut and Livingston are all also signed through July 2017.

Barnes is due for an extension this fall, but it wouldn’t kick in until July 2016, and it probably won’t break the bank.

For the short-term, this all can be done. The core of this team can be kept together.

The next step is figuring out how to deal with being king of the NBA mountain.

“I think it gets harder,” Green said. “Because now everybody’s going to be gunning for you, you’re the defending champs.”

Which makes it even more fun, you could say.

But there is no guarantee that the Warriors will win multiple titles or even get through the West.

Kerr has gone out of his way to point out that the Warriors were extremely fortunate to avoid serious injury this season while so many of their rivals suffered deeply.

And Kerr will have to replace top assistant coach Alvin Gentry, who is leaving to take over the New Orleans Pelicans.

But Kerr can easily promote from within — Luke Walton seems ready to move up a slot — and Lacob, Myers and the rest of the basketball operations staff isn’t known for sitting still, either.

They clinched on Tuesday, will have a parade on Friday, and they’re set up for the next several seasons, at least, and I think this team will savor life as the league kingpin for as long as it lasts.

More in Sports

Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob, general manager Bob Myers, coach Steve Kerr, assistant coach Mike Brown and forward Draymond Green talked to The Bay Area News Group about what it will take for the Warriors to have long-term success.

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers won't open their regular season for about six months (Sept. 9 or 10) but here is how their offensive starting lineup looks, after an early jump on free agency and before next month's draft: Quarterback: Jimmy Garoppolo. Analysis: All he has to do is remain unbeaten after signing the NFL's richest annual deal. Backups: C.J. Beathard,...